Editor’s note: This article is part of our College Football Stadium Rankings series, highlighting the most interesting venues across the country.
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Kinnick Stadium is where championship contenders fall apart, especially in November.
Under Kirk Ferentz, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 5-1 at home against top-10 opponents when the calendar flips past Halloween. In 2008, No. 3 Penn State (9-0) flew to Iowa with national title aspirations and left with a 24-23 defeat. In 2016, an Iowa field goal on the game’s final play sealed a 14-13 upset against No. 2 Michigan (9-0). A year later, the Hawkeyes crushed No. 3 Ohio State (7-0) 55-24 in a game referred to as “Woodshed” in Iowa City. All three losses cost those teams a path to either the BCS Championship Game or a College Football Playoff berth.
This week, the stakes are similarly high for both No. 20 Hawkeyes (6-2, 4-1 Big Ten) and No. 9 Oregon (7-1, 4-1). Their 3:30 p.m. ET contest on CBS marks just the sixth double-ranked November (or December) battle at Kinnick under Ferentz. Iowa owns a 4-1 mark in those games. And despite the predicted inclement weather, this one is sold out.
“I feel like it’s going to be super juiced up, just like it was for Penn State and basically every home game,” Iowa safety Xavier Nwankpa said. “I believe we got some of the best fans, just they keep the atmosphere pumping for us.”
So, what is it about late-season Kinnick that makes it so difficult for visitors? Minnesota coach P.J. Fleck has some thoughts.
In 2019, Fleck brought his No. 7 Gophers, which had just beaten top 10 Penn State, to Kinnick on Nov. 16. Minnesota (8-0) hadn’t won in Iowa City since 1999, and it was a chance to not only end that streak but also clinch a share of the Big Ten West Division crown. The Gophers quickly fell behind by 17 points in a 23-19 loss to No. 23 Iowa, a game that not only ruined their undefeated season but also ultimately cost them a spot in the Big Ten title game.
“Somebody asked me a long time ago, ‘What’s the hardest place to play? You’ve got to take where you’re at out of it,’ ” Fleck said. “I’ve always told them, Kinnick.
“The crowd, the atmosphere and then you throw the football team of Iowa in there, who never beats themselves, who’s really disciplined, loves playing the game. It seems like they just plug and replace. I mean, same body type, same person, same effort, same style, same system, and they win.”
Known more for “The Wave,” which has fans, players and officials turning toward the UI Stead Family Children’s Hospital at the end of the first quarter, Kinnick has become overlooked for its intimidation. For more than two decades, the Hawkeyes walk out to AC/DC’s “Back In Black,” and the environment is more like a heavy metal concert than the quaint rural setting stereotyped during cutaway shots after commercials.
Only 7 yards separate the stands from the sideline, and fans sit (or stand) a mere feet from the opponents’ bench. With a rebuilt north end zone, more noise stays inside the stadium. When No. 3 Iowa hosted No. 4 Penn State in 2021, the Nittany Lions committed eight false starts.
Iowa also leans into a mental edge. Former coach Hayden Fry debuted a pink visitors’ locker room in 1979 to provide Iowa’s opponents with a soothing pregame effect. It infuriated former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler in the 1980s, and in 2016, Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh instructed his team managers to cover the pink walls for their Nov. 12 night matchup.
Iowa’s home reputation has waned in media circles, but not among those who play or coach in Kinnick. A reporter asked Oregon coach Dan Lanning during a news conference if Kinnick will feel like a home game, “knowing how many people will be there supporting the Ducks?” Lanning winced then smiled.
“I can promise you being at Kinnick before as a GA when we were at Pitt (in 2011) and we played them, it’s not going to feel like a home game,” Lanning said. “It’s a cool environment, though.”
Most AP top-5 home wins, past 20 years
TeamStadiumWins
Ohio Stadium
7
Jordan-Hare Stadium
5
Kinnick Stadium
5
Tiger Stadium
5
Ben Hill Griffin Stadium
4
Williams-Brice Stadium
4
Stanford Stadium
4
Bryant-Denny Stadium
4
Vaught-Hemingway Stadium
4
Considering the College Football Playoff implications for both teams, there hasn’t been a game with such similar stakes at Kinnick since perhaps 2004.
In the regular-season finale, No. 17 Iowa beat No. 9 Wisconsin 30-7 in a winner-take-all outcome for a share of the Big Ten title. The last time Kinnick hosted two ranked teams battling this late in the season was in 2020 when the No. 19 Hawkeyes rolled the No. 25 Badgers 28-7.
Iowa’s only November home loss against a top-10 opponent or in a double-ranked game occurred in 2010, when No. 7 Ohio State edged No. 20 Iowa, 20-17. Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor ran sideline to sideline for 14 yards on a fourth-and-10 to keep alive a drive that culminated with a touchdown inside the final minutes.
In other words, it took an otherworldly play for a top-10 opponent to win in November at Kinnick. Considering Iowa has won 21 of its last 23 November games overall, and the two losses came when their starting quarterback suffered regular-season-ending injuries, maybe the home team has something to do with it, too.
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